Don't shop.nhl.com

This is a "Reebok Montreal Canadiens Women's Swirl Girl Long Sleeve Layered T-Shirt". That's what it says on the shop.nhl.com website. Agent 78 is a Habs fan and she wanted one. So she ordered one from the website, without checking out the online reviews. Here's what happened.

The package was delivered by courier within a week or so. Not bad. Shipping costs added around 8 bucks to the cost, but they told her that when she ordered, so fair enough.

When she opened the package, the shirt enclosed turned out to be red. Red is the Habs colour, but the website didn't say anything about a choice of colours. Even if it did, Agent 78 wanted the dark blue. To make matters worse, the cotton was not quite thick enough to be called flimsy. Says she, "I've seen thicker Kleenex."

What to do? Since Agent 78 had paid by credit card, Walt said just call the bank and tell them you're sending it back and would they please reverse the charge. Whoa!!! said the bank. You have to give the company a chance to make good.

So Agent 78 e-mailed shop.nhl.com's customer service. Not getting any response after a couple of days, she phoned them. Thank goodness for 800 numbers, she says, because after a considerable wait she got hold of someone who, without too much of a fight, said they would e-mail a shipping label which 78 could print out and use to return the item by the same courier.

A week goes by. No e-mail, no shipping label. So 78 phones them again.
Service Rep (so-called): "You want to return something?"
78: "Yes, I'm not satisfied with the 'Reebok Montreal Canadiens Women's Swirl Girl Long Sleeve Layered T-Shirt' you sent me."
SR: "What's wrong with it?"
78: "It's red."
SR: "Well it only comes in red."
78: "But on the website it's shown in blue and it doesn't say anything about red."
SR: "Are you sure?"
78: "[expletive deleted]! I'm looking right at the [expletive deleted] thing."
SR: "Just a minute... ... ... ... oh ... ... ..."

I'll spare you the rest of the transcript, the part in which SR says they'll e-mail 78 a shipping label because it seems the first one is, err, still being processed. Suffice it to say that, after another couple of days, the e-mail comes. Agent 78 packs up the garment, but El Courier Cheapo won't come and collect it. She has to take it to their drop-off point at Business Deport. It's only a 10-minute drive, so OK, she does it.

A week goes by. The courier website shows the package having been dispatched, but that's all. After another two days, Agent 78 calls the bank. The bank's SR won't take 78's word for it and says she will call shop.nhl.com herself. Go ahead, says 78.

After the banker calls the secret number only to find it out of service, she coughs up the credit to Agent 78's card. Every penny, including the taxes and shipping charges. This was in December, well before Christmas. All's well that ends well, thought 78.

Imagine her surprise, then, to receive only today an e-mail from shop.nhl.com! We've got your returned item, it says, and we're going to give you a refund of $28.46, only $8.99 less than you paid. Apparently the difference is the shipping charge.

Now Agent 78 asks Walt what she should do next. Walt passes the question along to you, gentle reader. Answers on the back of a postage stamp, please, to the usual address.

Postscript: Click here to read "shop.nhl.com sucks!" on RedFlagDeals.com. And don't buy anything from an online vendor without checking them out. If you pay by credit card or PayPal, they might bail you out, but it'll take time and aggravation.